THE FUTILITY OF SELF-EFFORT

 by thetbjoshuafanclub

True Christianity lies in the heart! This was the heart of the message the man of God, Prophet T.B. Joshua, dwelled on when he ministered to the masses that congregated at The SCOAN in Lagos, Nigeria and viewers of Emmanuel TV, last Sunday. Prophet T.B. Joshua came out early on Sunday to open the service with a thought-provoking message.  Drawing his message from the book of James 1: 1-5,22 and Psalms 66:18, the man of God said that unless Christians begin to act, live and do the Word, they are deceiving themselves. Prophet T.B. Joshua’s message was titled: The Futility Of Self-Effort. He said that those who are inwardly pure show themselves to be under the power of pure and without the Holy Spirit destroying the root of sin in us, we are bound to be tormented by the desire to return to our bad habits. We must lift up to God not only clean hands but a pure heart.
“We are made in our heart to be like Jesus. On the last day, we will be judged not by the colour of our skin, but by the content of our character. True Christianity lies in the heart. It lies in the purity of the heart. The mind is renewed by studying the Word and by acting upon it. One may read or study the Bible for years, if he or she does not act it, live it, is not a doer, the mind is not renewed. The mind is renewed by studying the Word and by acting upon it. Christ and the Word are one. Meditation in the Word is a visit to Him. The Word becomes a part of us by meditation,” he said.
Zeroing in on the day’s message, he said the problem with Christians today is that they use self-effort to stop their bad habits. As a result, said the man of God, their proclamations as Christians or being born again, are in vain because they continue to suffer urges of the bad habits they confess to have stopped.
“God’s effort is grace. When you stop your bad habit with self-effort, you cannot stop the urge, but God’s effort can. Many become Christians, born-again, pastors, bishops, prophets with self-effort. Self-effort leaves us with urge. That, which comes out of the heart, defiles the mind. Self-effort is a wrong attitude toward sin. Without the Holy Spirit destroying the root of sin in us, we are bound to be tormented by our desire to return to our bad habits. The challenge many Christians, believers, pastors and the rest are facing, is the problem of urge behind closed doors – urge to continue many bad habits,” he said.
After the message, the congregation listened to the case of a family who had been prophesied to the previous week by Prophet T.B. Joshua. Below is a summary of their intriguing story.